Daily Health News Blog

Wellness screenings can not only give you peace of mind, they can find potential threats at an early stage when treatment is most successful. * Eye Exams can spot degenerative conditions, and they can give you information about your overall health, says cardiologist Dr. Shyla High. The eyes are a window to your health and should be examined every year or two. * A skin exam by a dermatologist will check any suspicious moles using a special microscope. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime. Everyone from age 21 on should be tested, say dermatologists at the University of Minnesota. * For heart disease, the National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that individuals age 20 or older have a fasting lipoprotein profile done every few years. And your blood pressure should be checked periodically from age 18 on. At-home screenings and free drugstore testing machines can help. * Thyroid disease comes on graduall...

When you decide to have a beer or a glass of wine, the number of calories involved may not even be on your mind. But those calories can add up fast.  * Men ages 20 to 39 consume the most alcoholic beverage calories, 174 calories a day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . * About 20 percent of men and 5 percent of women drink beer on any given day; 4 percent of men and 7 percent of women drink wine.  * Caloric intake from alcoholic beverages was slightly higher in people with the highest income levels.  * According to the University of Rochester, a 1.5-oz. shot of liquor has between 115 and 200 calories, compared to a 4-oz. glass of wine that has between 62 and 160.  A 12-oz. can of light beer, depending on the brand you choose, may have 100 calories or more. Regular beer has between 140 and 200 calories.

Home remedies for toenail fungus, or onychomycosis, abound, but unfortunately none of them actually work. To really treat nail fungus, you have to take a trip to your doctor. Toenail fungus -- characterized by discolored, thick and brittle nails -- is a common condition caused by an infection in the nail bed. The most effective treatments for toenail fungus are oral antifungal medications like itraconazole (Sporanox) and terbinafine (Lamisil), which are available by prescription and taken daily for three months. These medications work by killing the fungus at the nail root. People who have liver problems or congestive heart failure shouldn't take oral antifungal medications. In this case, your doctor may recommend ciclopirox (Penlac), a prescription anti-fungal topical lacquer that you use like nail polish. It's sometimes used for people whose toenail fungus is caught early and hasn't spread to the entire nail. However, topical therapy isn't as effective as or...